Looking, learning, and living.

Welcome here! My primary interest is graphic design, but it is not all there is to life. I invite you into my mind space. Let's share ideas, discuss, ponder, and maybe even come up with some solutions that could change the world, if not save it.

Photographs freeze time, preserve memories, track passing time, and act as silent witnesses to events. A photograph is like a Teleprompter for the mind; a mnemonic aid that keeps the story flowing. I really would rather take a hundred photos than write a hundred words because I want the viewer to see what I saw.

Photographs invoke stories that begin this way: "Ah, yes... this is where we jumped into the boat before we found out it leaked. And this is where we jumped out of the boat before it sank..." Photos guide the stories.

Enjoy the sampling of photographs from my Instagram feed, below. Hope you are inspired or reminded of a particular time or place. To see the gallery, visit www.instagram.com/segunolude.

As a Yorùbá living outside Yorubaland, I was losing my connection to the language and culture, and I soon found out it was a general problem. Like other migrant groups abroad, Yorùbá-diasporans stop speaking their birth language, and their children often never learn or speak it. In one generation of a family, the language is lost or dead. Knowing I may not speak Yorùbá with my grandchildren, I had to act.

Ìtàn ati Àsà Ìbíle Yorùbá: The Yorùbá Narrative in Words and Images started out as a masters thesis a Vermont College of Fine Arts. I interviewed real Yorùbá people from various works of life, both in Nigeria and in the diaspora. I created a set of educational poster panels, pronunciation keys, typefaces, and a beautiful photographic book. The study of the Yorùbá alphabet, words, phrases, idioms and stories, led to the creation of a working typeface with complete accents and diacritical marks, a necessary step in the transition of an oral tradition to digital expressions.

I hope that this book would find its way into the hands of anyone interested in language, culture, and ethnic studies.

You too can become a type whisperer

At one time in my life, kerning and tracking sounded like some fun, boys' scout activity. Not anymore, thanks to Rob Peters and Erik Spiekermann (note spelling). Type is not just reading material, it conveys emotion and attitude. It shouts, and it whispers. It can be authoritative or playful. Also, the amount of spacing between letters, and between lines, determines how legible reading materials are. If I could teach you only one thing, I will teach you the principles of design, using type. It is well worth it to learn how to use type and become a 'type whisperer.' Well, maybe that is not the correct term but hey.

First, it was Ed Dore(May his soul rest in peace), a teacher who made us draw a full page of text for a book, all by hand. Then came Robert Peters with his total purist approach to type and everything typography. Some days I thought, "He's gone bonkers. I can't see moving this another smidgen." But guess what, the man was always right. It has got to be perfect, even if it is the only thing that's perfect in this imperfect world. As if that was not enough, Erik Spiekermann's passionate presentation in New Orleans, years later, that gave me another whack behind the head. Spiekermann's book, Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works is always in my car, next to my Bible. Anytime I find I have nothing to do, or while waiting for one things or the other, they are there.

If you are looking to educate yourself about type, check out the following books.

’Segun Olude runs a collaborative graphic design studio, teaches graphic design. His professional portfolio includes a 10-year dossier of teaching graphic design at the University of Manitoba, while also producing various editorial and magazine design, corporate identities, web design, commemorative postage stamps for Canada Post, local and international event branding, including the event branding and publicity materials for TEDxWinnipeg.

‘Segun is connected to various professional and community organisations in Canada. He participates annually in community development missions with his wife, and also teaches professional development seminars in Canada and Nigeria. An engaging presenter, he is often called upon to present or speak about topics ranging from human rights, immigration, integration, and multiculturalism, through Historica Canada and Passages Canada.

‘Segun is an avid photographer. View his gallery on Instagram!

Keep in touch.

I get asked a lot of questions. I don't mind. You may know some things I don't, and I may know a few things you don't. It's the way life is. Do you have a burning question or a story to tell? Please keep in touch.